This warmly spiced whiskey butter sauce is perfectly scrumptious over warm bread pudding! Variations include Traditional Cinnamon, Cinnamon-Orange, and alcohol-free vanilla sauce.
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What's the Story Behind this Recipe?
This sauce will raise your bread pudding from luscious to to truly scrumptious!
The inspiration for this recipe came many years ago, when we used to stop at a sweet little diner down in Netarts (if I remember right) on the Oregon Coast just for their bread pudding. I can still remember the first time a warm piece of bread pudding arrived at our table soaked with decadent, buttery, spirited sauce - Oh.My.Gosh!
Take the time to whip up this whiskey butter sauce for your bread pudding once, and you will never eat bread pudding without it again!
How to Make this Recipe
Put a small, clean plate in the refrigerator.
Put sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Set pan on burner, and then turn burner on LOW.
Stir over low heat until mixture begins to boil. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a full, rolling boil. (A boil that cannot be stirred down.)
Remove from heat and stir in alcohol. Step back from pan for a moment. Mixture will bubble up almost immediately and release all of alcohol.
DO NOT have your face directly over the pan when you add the alcohol. All of this happens very quickly, and you can get a nasty steam burn if you stand too close.
Take the plate out of the refrigerator. Drop a teaspoon of sauce on the plate, and determine if the sauce on the plate is thick enough for your tastes.
If the sauce is thick enough for you, move on to the next step.
If you would like your sauce to be thicker, return to the pan to the stove over MEDIUM-LOW. Stirring constantly, allow it to reduce for a few more minutes. Try the plate test again.
When you are satisfied with the thickness of your sauce, pour it into a clean container and allow it to cool.
Serve sauce over warm bread pudding.
Recipe Variations
Cinnamon Whiskey Butter Sauce (Original)
- Use 4 ounces of cinnamon whiskey (i.e., Fireball).
Cinnamon-Orange Whiskey Butter Sauce
- Use 2 ounces of cinnamon whiskey, plus 2 ounces of plain whiskey, plus 1 teaspoon orange zest.
- OR, Use 2 ounces of cinnamon whiskey, plus 2 ounces of Grand Marnier.
Un-Whiskey Vanilla Butter Sauce (alcohol free)
All of the alcohol cooks out of this sauce when made as directed. However, if you prefer not to use alcohol in your cooking at all:
- Omit all alcohol
- Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon when you add the sugar.
- Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla when you remove the sauce from the heat.
The resulting sauce will be a much milder, but still delicious.
If dessert sauces are something you crave, checkout our round-up of caramel and butterscotch recipes! (And find out what the difference between them is, too!)
FAQs & Expert Tips
Substitute rum for whiskey, and Boom! You've got Rum Sauce! Easy as that.
The whiskey sauce will harden if left at room temperature. To reheat it, transfer to a saucepan and slowly heat it until warm and bubbly, stirring occasionally. Heating in the microwave also works.
Related Recipes
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Cinnamon Whiskey Butter Sauce
Equipment
- 1 Whisk
- 1 heavy medium sauce pan
Ingredients
- 1½ cups white sugar
- ¾ cups butter
- ½ cup corn syrup
- 4 ounces cinnamon whiskey (Fireball)
- ¼ cup half & half or milk, or almond milk
Instructions
- Put a small, clean plate in the refrigerator.
- Put sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Set pan on burner, and then turn burner on LOW.
- Stir over low heat until mixture begins to boil.
- Continue to cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a full, rolling boil. (A boil that cannot be stirred down.)
- Remove from heat and stir in alcohol. Step back from pan for a moment. Mixture will bubble up almost immediately and release all of alcohol. DO NOT have your face directly over the pan when you add the alcohol. All of this happens very quickly, and you can get a nasty steam burn if you stand too close.
- Take the plate out of the refrigerator. Drop a teaspoon of sauce on the plate, and determine if the sauce on the plate is thick enough for your tastes.
- If the sauce is thick enough for you, move on to the next step. If you would like your sauce to be thicker, return to the pan to the stove over MEDIUM-LOW. Stirring constantly, allow it to reduce for a few more minutes. Try the plate test again.
- When you are satisfied with the thickness of your sauce, pour it into a clean container and allow it to cool.
- Serve sauce over warm bread pudding.
Notes
Cinnamon-Orange Whiskey Butter Sauce
- Use 2 ounces of cinnamon whiskey, plus 2 ounces of plain whiskey, plus 1 teaspoon orange zest.
- OR, Use 2 ounces of cinnamon whiskey, plus 2 ounces of Grand Marnier.
Un-Whiskey Vanilla Butter Sauce
All of the alcohol cooks out of this sauce when made as directed. However, if you prefer not to use alcohol in your cooking at all:- Omit all alcohol
- Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon when you add the sugar.
- Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla when you remove the sauce from the heat.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
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